My Decision about Registering for the 2014 Boston Marathon

Registration for the 2014 Boston Marathon officially opened yesterday. After much debating and going back and forth, I’ve decided not to register for Boston 2014. I’m a bit sad about the decision, but overall I think it is the best one for me. I’m going to list out my reasons so if my resolve starts to fade over the next few days, I only have to refer back to this post to remind myself NOT to sign up 😛

First, the race is roughly 5 months after my due date. From what I hear, I’m going to be a sleep deprived, hormonal mess for a while after birth (lovely!). I don’t tend to do well on little sleep, so that is already going to be a struggle. It seems like adding the stress of training for a marathon might send me over the edge. My sanity will be better served by having a “run when I feel like it” mentality rather than feeling like I must get my training done.

Second, I stopped running early on in pregnancy so when I start up again it will be after a long layoff. Despite maintaining aerobic fitness through cross-training, I will need to gradually ease back into running because my body will not be used to the impact. The last thing I want just as I get started back up again is to be sidelined with an injury. I’ve read about lots of runners (even professionals) that did too much too soon after pregnancy and got injured. I’m afraid that having a big race on the horizon would make me impatient and tempt me to do more than I should.

Third, we have the out-of town wedding of a very close friend the weekend before Boston. We’ll likely have to have our baby girl stay with family for the weekend as I don’t think I can bring her to the wedding, and I wouldn’t want to leave her two weekends in a row.

Fourth, if I am truly honest with myself, I don’t have a really good reason for having to do this race. I’ve done Boston before, and with some hard work I can hopefully get back in running shape and re-qualify again. I’ve read so many stories about women coming back from pregnancy and running even faster than before so there’s no real reason to fear that this is my last chance.

So there are my reasons. Now the registration window needs to hurry up and close so I can’t be tempted to change my mind!

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About me:

Hi, I'm Andrea. I'm a wife, dog-mom, and new mother with a background in public health and personal training. I live in Washington, D.C., and I love everything running and fitness related. My blog is a collection of health news, training advice, and my own training experiences. Welcome to my blog!